


Free

by kawaiiowl18



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-05-26
Packaged: 2018-11-05 05:02:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11006544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kawaiiowl18/pseuds/kawaiiowl18
Summary: Angela Ziegler and Gabriel Reyes met when Overwatch and Blackwatch worked together but the two of them fell deeply in love with each other. Years later after the explosion is when Dr. Ziegler is captured by Talon and she finds out about a long lost love of hers that she's bound and determined to save. Will she get her freedom and his or only hers and is it truly freedom if she can't have the love of her life? It all started with a cup of tea and ended with a bunch of tears.





	Free

**Author's Note:**

> My babies, I'm gonna go cry in the corner.  
> Based on the moodboard.  
> "You tell me, doc"  
> I'm done.  
> Enjoy your angst.  
> Not beta'd

It had all begun with a cup of tea on a rainy day, the two of them having just cleaned up after a mission. She had just finished bandaging him and Jack up before the two began to argue over something Blackwatch had done. He had slammed the office door, storming off to the kitchen in a brooding mood to cook something but he discovered he was too angry to do anything besides seeth. He sat down at the table, fists clenched in front of him. Angela had noticed him, noticed how tense he was and put the kettle on. It whistled but did not seem to get his attention.

"Would you like a cup?" She asked, going to make him a cup anyways.

No response. 

"My father always said a cup of tea will fix most emotional ailments and he would know, he was a doctor. So you can take the cup of tea or you can continue to be a silent brooding arschloch, it's up to you, Reyes." Angela said, holding the tea cup out to him.

He didn't speak German but it didn't take him much to realize she just called him an asshole. He silently took the cup and placed it in front of him before motioning for her to join him. She sat down in the seat beside him, movements graceful as always. They had been working together for a while, friends at least. The two of them had spoken about some pretty deep and dark things when everybody else went to bed and Reyes was doing paperwork. She would usually join him but the true spark between them hadn't begun until now, with this cup of tea. She reached out and gently touched his clenched fists, looking at him with concern. 

"Stop being so nice."

"Stop being an arschloch."

"Stop calling me that."

"I will when you stop being one." She bit back, not letting go of the gentle touch on his fists. 

They had never volleyed back and forth like this before, he had never noticed how blue her eyes were, how kind and calming her presence was. He noticed now, although it could have been from the anger. The tension between them had been building for some time now but it seemed to explode in that moment when they both moved in for a kiss. It was hot, passionate, yet there was something innocent in it as well. She pulled away after a few moments, looking him in the eyes as he stared back, the tension slowly fading from him to reveal how tired he was. She stood and held her hand out to him. She was still wearing her gloves and the leggings to her battle uniform with a tank top on over the top of it. He took her hand and let her lead him to his bedroom.

"You need rest, now."

"Angela..." He said, gently grabbing her arm when she went to walk away

She turned and looked at him, curious.

"Yes, Gabriel?"

"Stay with me." 

It wasn't a question, it was a demand but it was one she filled happily. She felt warm, safe, happy in his arms as they both fell asleep. She made a mental note to change his bandages when they woke up but let that thought fade away as she placed a sleepy kiss on his forehead. He pulled her closer at that and they stayed like that through the night. This was how much of their nights began to end, the two of them sleeping next to each other. She was calm, a saving grace for him honestly. He began to wonder if Blackwatch was worth it, if it was worth it to keep going on the way he was because of her when he had begun to argue with Jack again. Angela had been in her hospital wing, taking stock of the inventory when she heard the explosion. She ran into the room and began to cough, smoke filling her lungs immediately. 

She saw Gabe crushed under a bunch of piping, crying out to him before going over to him. He had a weak pulse, tears filling her eyes as she shook her head. 

"An..gel..a.." was his last word to her as he tried to reach out to her.

"Shhh, no...save your strength, liebling."

"Dr. Ziegler..." She heard Jack croak but ignored it.

"Gabriel....Gabe...no, please!" She said, feeling for a pulse again before beginning to sob and hold him close. 

The two of them had died that day and supposedly a part of Angela died that day too. 

"He was mighty fond of you, miss...wanted you to have this but under different cirumstances." McCree said, holding a small black box out to her.

More tears fell as she opened it, seeing a beautiful sapphire engagement ring. 

"Thank you, Jesse." She said through her tears, shaking her head and slipping it on anyways before continuing to let sobs take her over.

Reinhardt had come up from behind and placed a hand on her shoulder before she hugged him. The both clung to each other in the rain before leaving the graves as they were. They had all gone on to live their lives, Ana having died a long time ago. Reinhardt disappeared, then McCree again, Genji, Fareeha, they all disappeared and left Angela alone. She had been in the middle east when the recall came to be. She wasn't sure she could go back, wasn't sure she had wanted to when she remembered the explosion, remembered his screams as she tried to bring him back. She had dug up Gabriel Reyes a while ago, had tried to revive him through the miracles of medicine because she couldn't live without him but she hadn't expected what she had created. A wraith, a shell of a man. A shell of the man she knew and he had tried to kill her before leaving her, stating she wasn't worth it. 

She had created a monster in this very base, the very base where things came together and fell apart. Heroes never die, for a price. She expected Reyes to have gone off and died somewhere else, knowing he wouldn't have been able to survive long but didn't want to think about it. She had managed to succesfully rise Jack from the dead, him having gone off to do what he felt needed to be done and she kept all of this to herself, hidden beneath a smile as she greeted the others once again. It wasn't until she was in the middle of a mission that she realized how wrong she was. She had just healed Pharah and was working her way to Reinhardt when a wraith materialized in front of her, gentle black smoke and familiarty. 

"Gabriel..." She breathed, stunned to see him alive.

"He's dead, angel de la muerte." He said before knocking her out with the butt of his shotgun, causing her to groan and fall into his arms.

When Mercy woke again, she was in a jail cell, chained and most of her armor gone. She held onto the chains, glaring at the light in front of her. 

"Good, you're awake." A voice said, growling and gargled.

Strangled, struggling for life. Perhaps she hadn't fixed his vocal cords properly, something she would look into maybe. He had seen the saphire gleem on the chain around her neck when a clawed gloved hand grabbed her chin to make her look at him. Silence fell between the two of them as tears filled her eyes.

"They won't let you get away with this." She said

"They leave everybody behind." he growled back, sending a shiver down her spine as she tried to twist out of his grasp.

She headbutted him despite the mask, making him back up as there was a crack in it now, her nose possibly broken as she felt a warm metallic tasting liquid slide down her lips now. She looked up at him, still teary eyed and bleeding now.

"Angela..." He finally said softly before removing the chains and pulling her close.

She twisted in his grip now, begging to be let go.

"You are not my Gabriel!" She shouted as she continued to try and get free.

At this, he threw her against the wall, making her groan in pain before chaining her back up and leaving her in the dark alone. She began to cry silently, hanging her head. She was there for however long, not knowing how time was to be passed when the door opened again and light flooded in. He was back, unchaining her and pulling her upstairs with him. They were in a base of some sort, Talon's base - no doubt. She was pulled to his room despite her trying to fight him and he shut the door before locking it. He disappeared into the bathroom before throwing a first aid kit onto her lap.

"For your wrists and your face. You are free to use this room but I have set it to where you can never leave it." he said

"What happened to you, Gabriel?" 

"You tell me, doc." He responded before leaving her alone in the room.

She looked around, noticing that it was abnormally cold here. A shiver ran through her as she grabbed the kit and went into the bathroom. They would come for her and when they did, she would get out of here and be okay. She looked at herself in the mirror and frowned slightly, seeing the blood and runny makeup. Angela opened the medicine cabinet and saw various pills, reaching out for asprin and swallowing a few with sink water before searching for a wash cloth. She had decided to make the most of the situation and turned on the bath water, letting it run hot as she cleaned up her face. The bleeding had stopped a while ago but she still couldn't breathe normally out of her nose, more blood falling out as she cracked it back into place. She winced, cleaning up more of the blood before it drenched her lips. She slid into the hot water after turning the facet off, closing her eyes as she let her blonde hair fall around her shoulders.

Feeling weak and sore, she soon drifted off to sleep. There was a large bruise that was sure to form along her back from being thrown against a brick wall but she couldn't be forced to care about that right now. She woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door before entering. The woman had black hair with purple tips, it shaved and replaced with glowing mechanical parts on the other side. She placed some clothes on the counter.

"I don't know if my clothes will fit you so I brought you some of Widow's stuff, she won't mind it too much. Falling asleep in the tub can be dangerous, you know. Wouldn't want anything happening to you, Reaper is in a more mellow mood with you around."

"What an odd way of showing it." She bit back as she sat up straighter, not caring that this woman could see her naked.

Sombra chuckled, "suit yourself." She said before leaving her to her bath.

Mercy felt stiff as she got out of the tub, changing into the tank top and shorts before tossing the shorts to the side and going to the bedroom to rummage through Reyes' stuff. He still had a pair of flannel pajama pants she liked stealing when they were together back at Gibraltar so she put those on instead before curling up under the covers on his bed. Still feeling weak and a little nauseated, she drifted back off to sleep again. When she woke up, there was a cup of tea and some food on the bedside table for her. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, looking at the clock to see it was 7pm. The tea was cold by now but she wasn't going to complain, drinking it as she ate the sandwich that came with it. She then curled back up under the covers and just stared at the wall. 

The door opened a while ago to a black wraith floating in before he materialized. She wasn't sure if she would ever be used to that, if she wanted to get used to that. 

"So they call you Reaper now?" She asked, tone dripping with annoyance as she sat up a bit and looked at him.

"You kept the ring." He said, ignoring her question.

"You stayed alive...and you tried to kill me...and you've kidnapped me! So what does it matter? Clearly you are not the man I loved before. You are a monster, a beast." She said, clutching the blankets carefully. 

He growled lowly before slamming the bathroom door behind himself. She sighed and laid back down, ready to sleep again when she felt a cold presence beside her. He wasn't wearing his shirt or his mask, all of the claws and heavy leather gone. Dark skin was scarred over horribly, bits of his face fading away into bone and smoke. His eyes were red, teeth slightly sharp. She did this to him, guilt filling every fiber of her being. This was her fault. 

"Gabriel." She said, sliding close to him.

He was cold instead of warm, distant instead of loving. He laid there stiffly as she rested her head on his chest. He slowly drapped an arm over the top of her. They laid there silently like this before falling asleep, or she did. He stayed awake and held her, feeling something come to life in his chest, a feeling he hadn't felt in a very long time. It was foreign now, lost to his understanding a long time ago. There was only a need to get the job done, only a need to kill and survive but now he felt...calm. He felt whole. He felt warmth in his cold chest. He had kidnapped her as an important asset to Talon but he would also be damned if Talon got their hands on her. They had wanted to experiment and he was going to let them, let vengance win when he saw the ring. When he saw she also kept a locket with his picture in it, that they sat on the same chain. He realized she was just about as broken as he was and that was saying something.

The medic woke alone, looking around the room with a gentle sigh, laying her head back down. She didn't like wasting away in this room but wasn't sure if breaking out was the best idea. There was no window and an alarm would certainly sound if she tried to break the lock pad on door. She went and cleaned up a bit, eating what was left on the night stand for her before noticing a few books were left as well. Medical journals, some personal favorites of hers. Othello by Shakespere, it's so old but it holds a special spot in her heart. This is how her time goes with Talon, locked up like a caged bird. She reads most of the time, sees Gabriel every now and again. 

On the times he does show up, he's distant and quiet the first few times but after a while, they begin talking again. She makes jabs at him that he ignores and it's all bittersweet. She still calls him arschloch, he doesn't seem to care. The night they grew close again was when Angela was having a bad night. The memories of her father, the explosion, her friends dying, it caused her to whimper and toss and turn in her sleep. Reaper sat up and gently shook her but it didn't work.

"Angela" didn't work either. 

He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, hoping she wouldn't smack him when she woke up. Her eyes shot open and she went completely stiff for a moment before slowly melting into the kiss, eyes sliding shut. She rolled him onto his back then, straddling his waist as she deepened the kiss. She then opened her eyes and sat up straight, looking down at him.

"Gabriel..." She said before tears filled her eyes as she remembered where she was, what had happened. 

She laid down with her head on his chest, crying as he held her there. All he could do as sobs fell from her shaking form was rub her back and whisper to her in Spanish, he didn't know what else to do. He began to hum silently, knowing she used to like it when he sang. She finally managed to calm down enough.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked her, still holding her gently.

She hadn't expected him to be like Gabriel, her Gabriel. It took her by surprise, a long pause of silence showing how startled she was. She sighed and nodded.

"It was just a nightmare...you know I get those." She said

"Are they worse now?" He asked, obviously referring to the explosion.

"Ja.." She muttered, closing her eyes tightly in hopes the images wouldn't appear behind closed lids.

"Angela..." He spoke softly, it coming out as a gentle growl.

She sat up slightly and looked at him curiously then, a non-clawed hand coming up to wipe away her tears. 

"Do you think this could be a good home for you? A place to start over..?" He asked her

She frowned, not wanting to answer that question. 

"You are here but it is hardly a home if I am being treated like a prisoner..." She said

"I see. What is it you truly want?"

"You." She responded without hesitation.

They were supposed to grow old together, supposed to have a family together. She remembered when they could be happy, when they were happy, and it all fell apart so quickly. She could nothing but hope, but try to bring them back to life and hope. That hope was dashed to a milion pieces but she could still hope, right? He stands and stretches slightly.

"I have business to attend to. Will you be here when I return?" He asked, slipping his keycard to the base onto the desk.

Angela realized he was giving her the choice to leave if she wanted it, he was giving her the choice to be set free and yet the thought made her sad.

"I will be here, liebling." She responded, looking him in the eyes as she said that.

He nodded and went to get dressed in his reaper garb before leaving her as a wraith. She saw the man she loved within him and wondered if she could save him, wondered if she could bring him home. She was sitting cross legged on the bed, seeing the keycard was still on the desk. She stared at it, contemplating when everything in the room went dark. The power must have gone out and Angela begins to feel her heart hammer in her chest.

"Dr. Ziegler, I must request you take a few steps back if possible." Mei said from the other side of the door.

They came for her, her team came to rescue her. How long had she been stuck here? She took a step back but it was into something cold, solid. Darkness consumed her for a moment before she found herself in his arms, him running elsewhere.

"Put me down!" She said

"No."

"Arschloch!" She said to him, beginning to thrash in his grasp.

"They can't have you." He responded, not disturbed by being called an asshole

"They are my team, my family, my home. Gabriel...you were once those things, I tried to bring you back to life because I needed you but you chose to go this path. You chose to be on the opposing team but you could still come back. Come back to Overwatch, be my family again." She said, having stopped moving about and just staying still in his grasp now as she spoke.

He stopped running and just held her there as red emergency lights flickered above them. It revealed the masked face, Reaper in full garb. This was the man she loved, she knew he was still in there somewhere. She was put down and he went to turn away but she swiftly pulled his mask off, making him stop.

"What are you doing?" He asked her

"Come home, Gabriel..." She said gently, grabbing him by the leather of his coat and pulling him into a kiss.

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed back gently before pulling away.

"I'm sorry, mi sol." He said before blackness wrapped around her again.

It was cold, so cold and dark and then there was warmth, sunlight. He had placed her on the ground before the wraith form floated away from her. She heard a helicopter in the distance, squinting and shielding her eyes the best she could as she looked at the sky. Jack and Mei ran towards her, Jack immediately pulling her up into a hug. He wasn't much for hugging so she knew this meant a lot, wrapping her arms around him as sobs began to escape her. She was free, no longer a caged bird...but was she truly free?


End file.
